Benefit dinner set for Cornish couple injured in accident

A benefit for a Cornish couple badly injured in an accident is taking place this weekend.

Ray, 51, and Teri Grace, 53, were injured while vacationing in Florida when a car struck them while they were crossing the street Feb. 24.

Both Ray and Teri are well-known in the Upper Valley region — Ray as a local UPS driver and Teri as a nurse at the Brookside Nursing Home in Wilder, Vt.

Soon after the accident the community rallied behind the family, raising money online to help support the couple’s three grown daughters who were flying back and forth to Florida to help their parents recover at the Blake Medical Center in Tampa.

Angela and Jennifer Grace live in the Upper Valley region while the youngest daughter Kelley Grace lives in Burlington, Vt.

Angela Grace said Wednesday her parents have returned to the area, traveling together via ambulance. Her mother remains on the long round to recovery.

Both Ray and Teri sustained extensive injuries from the accident. Ray was released from the trauma center within two weeks after the accident but with a broken pelvis and a skull fracture he was still in need of care and rehabilitation. Teri was in a coma for almost a month. She suffered traumatic head injury, a broken jaw, broken leg and two collapsed lungs.

Based on her injuries, the doctors believed Teri would have severe brain injuries, but she is recovering quite quickly at this point and is showing no signs of a brain injury, Angela Grace said.

“Miraculously her brain has healed quite well,” she said.

She is undergoing heavy physical therapy and speech therapy and just recently had the wire that was keeping her jaw shut removed.

Teri is at the rehabilitation center at Mount Ascutney Hospital in Windsor, Vt.

“She really seems to be having a lot of improvement every day,” Angela Grace said. “We’re very lucky and very blessed.”

To help the family with the ongoing expenses, Teri’s sister Pamela Judd has organized a benefit dinner Saturday night.

The fundraiser is set to take place Saturday at 6 p.m. at the Elks Lodge in Franklin, 192 Central St. The evening will start with cocktails, and includes a spaghetti dinner at 6:30 p.m., followed by Chinese auction and a Karaoke party.

Tickets are $7 for adults and $5 for children. The evening is free for children younger than five.